Did I Do That?
Did I do that?
Leviticus 4-5
“Did I do that?” became a national cultural catchphrase in the early 90s when Jaleel White popularized the saying as the quirky, nerdy, trouble-prone neighbor of the Winslow family on Family Matters, Steve Urkel. Urkel would attempt some well-meaning act of kindness only to see his efforts lead to some unfortunate mishap and regrettable chaos. Urkel would put on an innocent face of confusion and in his classic high pitched voice ask, “Did I do that?” It was Urkel’s way to minimize his actions and to get himself out of trouble.
Family Matters lasted only 9 years but Steve Urkel and his classic catchphrase has remained part of American pop culture. Most people just laugh at the phrase without giving it much thought, but I think it accurately reveals how many of us think of sin. Urkel would use his line, “Did I do that?” to protect himself from consequences and to minimize the coming punishment while making light of his mistake. We may not use his line, but say something similar, “I didn’t mean to,” or “It was just an accident,” or “It was never my intention to…” As my mother often said to me growing up, “A lot of truth is said in jest,” meaning truth is revealed in our humor. And Steve Urkel helps reveal how the human heart, and too often, how we view sin.
We try to protect ourselves from the consequences of sin and minimize our punishment by defending our actions by hiding behind phrases that absolve us from any guilt or responsibility for our actions. The fallen human heart minimizes and justifies sin with, “Did I do that?” while those who are born again when they realize their sin are quick to reply in confession, “I did that.” And by admitting our actions, we also admit, “I deserve to be punished for it.” When you are confronted with sin, what is your natural response? Are you quick to acknowledge your sin and confess or ready to justify and defend yourself?
Leviticus 4-5 introduces the fourth sacrifice laying the groundwork of how we respond when we sin against God. If we rightly understand these two chapters, we will further understand our sin, its consequences and our need for atonement.
The Guilt of our Sin
Leviticus 4 begins with God addressing Moses again from the Tent of Meeting and every time God addresses Moses, Moses would be responsible to share this with the people. These are not only to Moses but all of Israel. Leviticus 4:1–2,
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,
First, God lays out what happens when people sin. To sin means to miss the mark. There is a perfect standard of holiness, a bullseye, that none of us hit. Every single person has sin. All of us have missed the perfect mark. Second, God is not addressing all sin here, but unintentional sin. Can we be guilty of unintentionally sin? Are we responsible for things we didn’t mean to do? In short, the text gives us the obvious answer: yes. You can be guilty without feeling guilty.
Our culture has placed too much emphasis on subjective feelings rather than on objective reality. We see this in regards to how our culture views gender. Throughout human history, gender and sex has been defined by the objective reality of one’s DNA. Upon delivery, doctors would see the objective reality and announce, “It's a boy or It’s a girl.” Only until recent history has the internal, subjective feelings become more important than objective reality. Now, one puts more emphasis on what they feel rather than on what is true. “I feel like…” holds more and more weight in modern society.
Leviticus 4-5 lays out the objective reality of sin over the subjective reality of how I feel. You may not feel guilty, but you still may be guilty. Moses is addressing unintentional or inadvertent sin. A few years ago Pastor Whit and I were driving back from a conference and were engaged in conversation. All of the sudden I saw the blue lights of a police car. I had set my cruise control at the speed limit so I didn’t know why he was pulling me over. He said that I was speeding because the speed limit had changed when we entered the construction zone. I said, “I didn’t see the signs.” And I was telling the truth. We were engaged in conversation and I honestly did not notice the change in speed limit. I did not feel like I did anything wrong, and yet I was guilty. And got a speeding ticket. It did not matter how I felt. The objective reality was I was going over the prescribed limit and broke the law and received a just penalty for it.
We can sin even if we don’t feel like we sinned. Our knowledge is not perfect. Leviticus 4-5 lays out when we unintentionally sin. Scripture speaks of unintentional sins as including three characteristics: they are (1) from ignorance of God's will and his Word, (2) not deliberately done in hostility against God, yet (3) they are disobedience nonetheless. Peter told the Jews that they killed the author of life due to their ignorance in his sermon after the healing of the lame man in Acts 3. Paul told the Greeks that the times of ignorance were overlooked by God. Pastor and counselor Jeremy Pierre helps us here in saying,
The Jews killed Jesus. The Greeks crafted idols. Both of these actions were instinctive expressions of hearts not conditioned by God's revealed Word, but by differing (yet equally sinful) sets of beliefs and values. The Jews believed in a legalistic god of their own making and valued their cultural version of righteousness; the Greeks believed in their human-crafted gods and valued the beauty of their own imaginings. Their actions simply expressed these deeper structures of ignorance. The Jews did not intend the killing of Jesus to be a hostile act against God, and the Greeks did not intend their pursuit of earthly pleasure to be direct rebellion against Him. But they were nonetheless.
So it is with us. Our responses flow from somewhere—from the deeper realities of the hearts we're stewards of. We are stewards of the deeper realities just as much as we are of the surface expressions. So, we can sin without deliberate choice because we are always acting intuitively out of hearts conditioned by inherited sin.
We continue to need purification from our sins. We need to realize when we have unintentional or involuntary sinful thoughts and desires that God needs to continue to sanctify us from the inside out. Out of the abundance of the heart, we think and speak. Our involuntary and unintentional sins, reveals to us our need for further sanctification. We may not be committing deliberate sins, but our desires that instinctively rise up in us are flashing sins of our need for the Holy Spirit to continue to work in and through us.
Do you have a category for unintentional sin in your life? The Apostle Paul did. He writes in 1 Corinthians 4:1–5,
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
Paul could have said, “I don’t feel like I did anything wrong, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t.” He knew the Lord would judge things perfectly in the end. He was not aware of anything he did wrong, but that does not mean he is acquitted. And the opposite is also true. Someone could feel like you sinned against them, but they could be wrong. Just because someone feels like you sinned doesn’t mean you are not innocent. Human opinion is not the final court of appeal. The Lord will reveal all things in time.
We need to hold both these truths in tension. We need to understand we may have sinned unintentionally or inadvertently against others. At the same time we need to understand even though others claim we have sinned against them, it doesn’t mean we actually did. The Lord will judge perfectly in the end. We need this balance in our relationships. We have to be careful to project our feelings on another person’s actions. We can’t judge someone’s motives of why they did what they did. Only the Lord knows. And according to Paul, we may not fully understand our own motives of why we did what we did. Only the Lord knows.
Some of you need to stop judging others motives while others of you need to be willing to admit you may have unintentionally sinned and be willing to confess it. Either way, Leviticus 4-5 reveals all of us will have objective guilt for our sin. And will face consequences for our sin.
The Consequences of our Sin
Leviticus 4-5 lays out four different groups of people who may have unintentional sin. Leviticus 4:1-12 addresses the sin of the high priest, Leviticus 4:13-21 addresses the sin of the whole assembly, Leviticus 4:22-26 address the unintentional sin of one of the leaders of Israel, and Leviticus 4:27-35 addresses the sin of a common member of Israel. While Leviticus 5:1-13 provides some specific circumstances that may make someone impure and the need for purification.
Sin has Consequence on others
The high priest’s sins led to guilt on all the people. Leviticus 4:3,
if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering.
The sins of the priest are representative of all the people. Our sin affects others. And since the priest represented all of Israel before the Lord, when he sinned, it brought guilt on all the people. Hebrews 5:1–3,
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.
The high priest represented Israel before God thus his sin brought guilt on all the people.
Sins of the high priest are not the only sins that affect the whole community. In Leviticus 4:13, we see sin of the whole congregation, 4:22, the sin of the leader and 4:27, the sin of the common member of the community. Every sin needs to be dealt with for every sin has consequences. And those consequences are not only to the individual, but it touches everyone around them.
Do not think your sin does not impact others. Your private, secret sins affect everyone in your family and in this body. When you give yourself to sin, you are taking your eyes off of Christ and not using your gifts to serve others. Sin is selfish. Sin destroys community. Sin creates a barrier between God and man, and between one another. Even in Leviticus 5, we see how unintentional sin may impact others, Leviticus 5:1–6
“If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity; or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt; or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
If someone doesn’t testify in court, someone may face an unjust penalty. Touching uncleanness may bring diseases into the camp affecting others. Rash oaths may lead to sin for the whole community. Sin always affects more people than we realize.
Sin has consequence on another
In every one of the sacrifices for unintentional sin in Leviticus 4, results in the death of another living thing. Leviticus 4:3–4
If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering. He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the LORD.
The high priest's sin leads to the death of an unblemished bull from the herd. The sin of the whole congregation is the same in Lev 4:14. The leader and the commoner lead to the death of a male goat in Lev. 4:23 and a female goat in Lev. 4:28 or a lamb in Lev 4:32. The animal changes based on the offending party, but the result is all the same: another living creature has to die because of sin.
It is one thing to know our sin has some consequences on lots of people, it is quite another to know that our sin leads to the death of another living thing. The Israelites had to lay their hand on the animal symbolically transferring all of their sin onto the animal. And after laying their hand on the animal, they had to kill it. It was not done by another, but by their own hands. They needed to know that it was their sin that led to this death therefore the animal's life was taken by their own hand. It is hard to imagine the emotion of the moment when the worship would take the knife and spill the blood. Imagine for a moment if that animal was your cat or your dog. It was not some random animal from a herd with no connection, but an animal you loved and cherished. And knowing your sin led to its death. Would the effect be any different? Friend, know that our sin has consequences.
As you read chapter 4, you read a lot about the blood. As we will read in Leviticus 17, the blood represented life. And we see the blood being sprinkled all over the place. Leviticus 4:5–7
And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the LORD that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
We see this repeated in Leviticus 4:16–18
Then the anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil. And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the LORD, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 4:25,
Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
Leviticus 4:30,
And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.
It is one of the bloodiest chapters in the Bible. Our sin leads to the spilled blood of another. We cannot minimize our sin. We cannot ignore it. Our sin must be paid in blood. Hebrews 9:22,
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
And our sin did not just lead to the spilled blood of some animal, but of the Son of God, Jesus Christ who offered himself once and for all to save us.
The sacrifices in Leviticus 4-5 point to a greater sacrifice by a more perfect high priest, Hebrews 10:1–18
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system by being the once and for all perfect sacrifice for sin. His blood was spilled to purify us.
Our sin led to the death of Jesus Christ. Our sin led to his blood being spilled for our salvation. And it is only when we realize the consequence of our sin, can we fully embrace our forgiveness.
The Atonement of our Sin
Leviticus 4-5 are some of the bloodiest chapters in the Bible, but they are also laced with some of the most hope. Leviticus 4-5 reveals how we can experience atonement for our sins. Leviticus 4:13-14a,
“If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, when the sin which they have committed becomes known,
Leviticus 4:22–23,
“When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, (emphasis added)
Leviticus 4:27–28,
“If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. (emphasis added)
The ritual of purification cannot be disconnected from the heartfelt honest confession of sin. It is when our guilt is realized, when our sin becomes known to us, that we willingly, dependently, joyfully, come to God for his mercy. We must acknowledge our sin if there is going to be forgiveness. It is a mere ritual, but a heartfelt realization of what we have done wrong.
Friend, if you are not a Christian, I wonder if you have ever realized your guilt before a holy God. Do you realize that your sin has consequences? Do you realize what you deserve from your sin? The wages of sin is death. You and I deserve eternal death for our sin. We rightly deserve to be punished in hell for our sin. We must acknowledge what our sin deserves. Our fallen human hearts want to minimize what we have done. We want to ignore our guilt and minimize the consequences. Don’t put your trust in the false hope of not feeling guilty or not feeling like you deserve punishment. Our subjective feelings do not ignore the objective reality of our guilt. We must realize our guilt. As my pleading, “I didn’t see the construction signs,” did not absolve me from a ticket, your pleading of “I didn't mean to or I didn’t know or I never intended to,” will not be sufficient on the day of judgment.
But friend, here is the beauty of Leviticus 4-5, and the beauty for all sinners, is when we realize guilt, we can turn to God and trust in his sacrifice. He has made a way for us. The repeated refrain ending each sacrifice of Leviticus 4-5 is the reason for hope.
Leviticus 4:20,
And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 4:26
So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 4:31
And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 4:35
And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:6
And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
Leviticus 5:10,
And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:13
Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in any one of these things, and he shall be forgiven.
When one realizes their guilt and turns to God and trusts his sacrifice, they will be forgiven. Friend, you can have hope today. Leviticus is not asking to trust in the blood of bulls and goats and the atonement of the Levitical high priest. Leviticus is pointing to an even greater high priest. Hebrews 7:26–27,
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
Jesus is the high priest who makes atonement for your sins so you can be forgiven. What news! What mercy! And all comes not with minimizing your sin, but admitting it. It is only when we realize our guilt we will turn to God. Friend, repent today. Realize your guilt before a holy God and trust in the sacrificial offering of Christ for your salvation.
Beloved, our high priest has come to purify us and bring us into the presence of God by going outside the camp being cut off from the people. Leviticus 4:11–12,
But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung—all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up.
The sacrifice of the high priest was taken outside of the camp. And we read in Hebrews 13:11–16,
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
The author of Hebrews gives us our application from this text.
First, we have been sanctified through this blood. Therefore, we should be a holy and pure people. Live in purity. Confess your sin daily with heartfelt confession trusting in his atonement and forgiveness.
Second, let us go outside the camp and suffer the same reproach. Meaning we should not be afraid to face the scorn from this world. For we belong to the city that is to come. We can go out into this world testifying to the gospel and accepting the reproach that comes with it.
Third, let us be a people of praise. God’s praises should continue to be on our lips. We should be people of praise. Each and every day, we should lift our voice in praise to God for the shed blood of the lamb. Let his praise be continually on our lips.
Fourth, do not neglect to do good and share what you have for these sacrifices are pleasing to God. We do not need to offer up bulls and goats, but to offer up our lives as sacrifices for his good pleasure.
Jesus went outside the camp to suffer reproach. He died outside the camp. But Jesus is not dead. He is alive. He is risen from the grave. And because he is alive, we have atonement and forgiveness for our sins. Jesus went outside the camp and on the cross, opened his arms wide and said for your sin and mine, “I did it.” Jesus took our place for our sin outside the camp. His blood was spilled. He offered himself once and for all for all who would repent of their sins and trust in him. We are guilty, but in Christ we are forgiven. Jesus is the high priest who has made atonement for us and declared with a loud voice, “Father, forgive them.’ Beloved, all your sins have been dealt with in the blood of Christ. Jesus has made atonement and the Father has forgiven our sins. Now go outside these walls and share that atonement with the world. Help the world see their guilt, and point them to the only high priest who can make atonement and forgive their sins.